Spice is a brand name for a mixture of herbs that has been sold in head shops in Europe, Canada and New Zealand as an incense, as well as over the Internet as an herbal smoking blend. Even though the manufacturer officially warns against human ingestion of Spice, it is usually smoked for its Cannabis-like effects which are caused by several synthetic cannabinoids. Several different "flavours" of Spice have been marketed which appear to contain different proportions of the synthetic cannabinoid active ingredients, and reportedly produce subtly different effects. A large number of competing products made by other manufacturers have also subsequently appeared.

Ingredients

Spice was claimed by the manufacturers to contain a mixture of traditionally used medicinal herbs, each of which supposedly produces mild effects with the overall blend resulting in the cannabis-like intoxication produced by the product. Herbs listed on the packaging included Canavalia maritima, Nymphaea caerulea, Scutellaria nana, Pedicularis densiflora, Leonotis leonurus, Zornia latifolia, Nelumbo nucifera and Leonurus sibiricus. However when the product was first analysed by laboratories in Germany and elsewhere, it was found that many of the characteristic "fingerprint" molecules expected to be present from the claimed plant ingredients could not be located, and also there was large amounts of synthetic tocopherol present. This suggested that the actual ingredients might not be the same as what was listed on the packet, and a German government risk analysis of the product conducted in November 2008 concluded that it was unclear what the actual plant ingredients were, where the synthetic tocopherol had come from, and whether the subjective cannabis-like effects were actually produced by any of the claimed plant ingredients or instead might possibly be caused by a synthetic cannabinoid drug.^[1]

On December 15th 2008, it was announced by German pharmaceutical company THCPharm, that JWH-018 was found as one of the active components in at least three versions of the supposedly "herbal" smoking blend, cannabis substitute drug Spice, which has been sold in a number of countries around the world since 2002 as an "incense" or legal substitute for marijuana.^[2][3][4]

On January 19th 2009, it was announced by the University of Freiburg in Germany that the other main active substance in Spice is an undisclosed analogue of the synthetic cannabinoid CP 47,497.^[5] On the 22nd January 2009, CP 47,497 along with its dimethylhexyl, dimethyloctyl and dimethylnonyl homologues, were added to the German controlled drug schedules ("Betäubungsmittelgesetz").^[6][7] Different ratios of JWH-018 and CP 47,497 and their analogues were apparently used in the various different varieties of Spice to produce a range of subjective effects.

Another potent synthetic cannabinoid, HU-210, has been reported to have been found in Spice seized by the US Customs & Border Protection^[8] but no independent confirmation of this result has yet been made.

Legal status

Canada

Health Canada has stated an opinion that JWH-018 falls under item 1 of schedule 2 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, as a "similar synthetic preparation" to cannabis.^[9]

Austria

The Austrian Ministry of Health announced on 18th December 2008 that Spice would be controlled under Paragraph 78 of their drug law on the grounds that it contains an active substance which affects the functions of the body, and the legality of JWH-018 is under review.^[10][11][12]

Germany

Both JWH-018 and CP 47,497 are illegal in Germany since 22nd of January 2009.^[13][7]

Worldwide

In most other countries these synthetic cannabinoid compounds and "herbal smoking blends" such as Spice remain legal at present, but in some countries such as the USA their controlled drug analogue laws might be interpreted as saying that these products are already illegal on the basis of their similar activity to cannabis.

See also

• CP 47,497
• JWH-018
• HU-210

External links

• Erowid
• Austria bans herbal incense 'Spice' (msn news)
• Germany bans drug "Spice" (The Seattle Times)

References